1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:03,440 Speaker 1: I thought I would write a memoir about having activist parents, 2 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:06,920 Speaker 1: and then I decided, no, I'm going to start fiction writing. 3 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:09,240 Speaker 1: And I was like, you know what, I think that 4 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:12,799 Speaker 1: my background of wedding planning would be the perfect trojan 5 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:15,160 Speaker 1: horse to make people care about Puerto. 6 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:22,800 Speaker 2: Rico from futro media and pr X. It's let you know, Usa, 7 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 2: I'm Maria Rosa Today author Sochil Gonzalez. I'm putting Puerto 8 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 2: Rico and her own life at the center of her 9 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:39,600 Speaker 2: debut novel, Olga Dies Dreaming. Things didn't always look so 10 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:44,520 Speaker 2: bright for Sochil Gonzalez. Eleven years ago. She was thirty 11 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:48,280 Speaker 2: one years old when her grandfather, who raised her, died 12 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:51,479 Speaker 2: of a severe illness. And on top of that, her 13 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 2: marriage was ending. 14 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: And it was the recession, and my ex husband was like, 15 00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 1: do you want to stay together or not? And he 16 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:00,640 Speaker 1: handed me this letter, this thick letter, and it was 17 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: like ten handwritten pages about how much I suck, and 18 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 1: at the end it was like, you need therapy, and 19 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: I was like, right, I do. 20 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:17,319 Speaker 2: So she started therapy and in a lot of ways 21 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 2: it helped, but it was writing her debut novel, Olga 22 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:26,160 Speaker 2: Dies Dreaming, at age forty that really took Sochil on 23 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 2: a journey of self discovery. 24 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:32,600 Speaker 1: Part of Olga gave me a lot of perspective in 25 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:37,040 Speaker 1: terms of what were things that were coping mechanisms that 26 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:38,839 Speaker 1: I had just had for so long. 27 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:44,319 Speaker 2: Olga Dies Dreaming delves into pretty heavy themes like colonialism 28 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:49,560 Speaker 2: in Puerto Rico, the gentrification of Brooklyn, and family abandonment, 29 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 2: all through the tumultuous lives of a working class New 30 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 2: yeor Regan family. The book was published in January of 31 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 2: twenty twenty two, and in two short months, it's been 32 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 2: praised by the critics, it made it to the New 33 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 2: York Times Bestseller's List, and it's being developed as a 34 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:10,920 Speaker 2: TV pilot. Although the novel is a work of fiction, 35 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 2: there are a lot of parallels between Soci's life and 36 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:18,080 Speaker 2: Olga Acevedos, the main character of her novel, who has 37 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:22,079 Speaker 2: a conflict of identity as a working class Latina planning 38 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 2: weddings for the ultra rich. Sochi uses family tension and 39 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 2: secrets to portray characters that represent the richness of the 40 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 2: Puerto Rican experience, and she also makes sure to give 41 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:38,680 Speaker 2: us a history lesson on the injustices that the Island 42 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 2: has had to live through. Sochi has sat down with 43 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 2: me and we talked about why she wanted her first 44 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:49,959 Speaker 2: novel to be so autobiographical but also so deeply political, 45 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:53,359 Speaker 2: and how she decided to leave her wedding business behind 46 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 2: in order to fulfill her dream of becoming a writer. 47 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:00,920 Speaker 2: Welcome to Latino, USA. Oh, Chila, it's great to have 48 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:01,640 Speaker 2: you on the show. 49 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:04,640 Speaker 1: Oh it's such an honor. I love this show. So 50 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 1: this is a real delight. 51 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:09,240 Speaker 2: Really. So I first met you it was, let's see, 52 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,480 Speaker 2: the spring of twenty twenty one, were at an all 53 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:17,160 Speaker 2: women's kind of artists gathering in Soho. I had so 54 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 2: many questions when I met you, because I was like, wait, 55 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 2: who is so chill? You were a wedding planner and 56 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 2: you're like working class. You're Mexican Puerto Rican if I'm 57 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 2: not mistaken, Yes, that's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and from Brooklyn. 58 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 2: And I remember when we were talking when we met 59 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:38,720 Speaker 2: that you brought up your mom and dad. Your parents 60 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 2: were radical Latino and Latina activists in New York City 61 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 2: in the nineteen seventies eighties, so you're kind of in 62 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:50,119 Speaker 2: the midst of this. Give us just a little bit 63 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 2: of the BTS, the behind the scenes of growing up 64 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 2: like that. 65 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 1: My parents are very involved in the Socialist Worker Party. 66 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:00,680 Speaker 1: My dad actually was were in the Brown Power movement 67 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:02,640 Speaker 1: in California, and they met when my mom was out there, 68 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: but she was working to get reparations for sterilization for 69 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 1: women in Puerto Rico. A lot of their work was 70 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: around union organizing and labor rights and housing and also 71 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:17,599 Speaker 1: it was very much about how do we fight for 72 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:20,920 Speaker 1: independence for this island. But I was raised on the 73 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 1: day to day by my mom's parents. It was like 74 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:25,840 Speaker 1: this weird thing where my dad would send me like 75 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:27,760 Speaker 1: Marks for Beginners, a cartoon book. 76 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 2: Oh my god, I had that book. 77 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:33,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, Like my mom would take me to like there 78 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:36,600 Speaker 1: was a bookstore called the Pathfinder Bookstore, right, and they'd 79 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:39,920 Speaker 1: be all like fighting about politics, like chain smoking. So 80 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: I lived with my mom for the first three years 81 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 1: of my life. But when I first got to Brooklyn 82 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 1: and my grandfather'd be walking me around and go to 83 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: preschool whatever. 84 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:49,520 Speaker 2: And I see people at a bus stop and I'll 85 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:53,840 Speaker 2: be like, what are they protesting? Like I just I 86 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:55,920 Speaker 2: guess anybody getting on a big bus mean that they 87 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:59,719 Speaker 2: were going to a protest. Someplace. It. 88 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:01,719 Speaker 1: One thing that was weird that is in the book 89 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: is a lot of the things that I was told 90 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:08,279 Speaker 1: were important. My parents did not care about going to 91 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:10,200 Speaker 1: an Ivy League school, Like they did not care. 92 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 2: Wait, wait, wait a second. You get into Brown, which 93 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:17,840 Speaker 2: is a progressive school. It's one of the most challenging 94 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:21,560 Speaker 2: to get into intellectually. It is a very creative place. 95 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 2: I love the fact that your parents were just like, 96 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:26,440 Speaker 2: we don't really care about that though. 97 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:28,240 Speaker 1: It did not matter, and it was like this hilarious 98 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:33,600 Speaker 1: mix of My grandparents were so working class. I think 99 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:36,240 Speaker 1: they had a gd between the two of them. They 100 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 1: were like, I never even heard of the school. And 101 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:41,440 Speaker 1: then my parents were like, okay, cool, you could have 102 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 1: also gone to Brooklyn College, a wonderful school, you know, 103 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 1: like it was this bougie institution. I was an art 104 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:51,920 Speaker 1: history major and I wrote about postcolonial French Impressionism, and 105 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: my mother was like, what is this bourgeois nonsense? 106 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 2: Like it was ex well, let me ask you about that. 107 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:02,520 Speaker 2: You know, there is question of you could have become 108 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 2: an activist. You didn't become an activist. I mean, you 109 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:10,800 Speaker 2: do end up launching this business of being a wedding 110 00:06:10,839 --> 00:06:13,680 Speaker 2: planner in New York. It's almost like you were saying 111 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 2: to your Trotskyist Socialist workers party mom and dad, you 112 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:22,600 Speaker 2: know what, I'm gonna go work for the rich. Were 113 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 2: they like, Eskip, You're you're working for the capitalists? What happened? 114 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:31,520 Speaker 1: So a lot of my classmates, especially the Latino classmates, 115 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 1: a lot of my black classmates, they also had activist 116 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:36,640 Speaker 1: parents or came from like a legacy of the movement 117 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:39,080 Speaker 1: being like defining, and then all of a sudden, we 118 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: were all like trying to get jobs at investment. 119 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,000 Speaker 2: Banks and going to do a share in the Hamptons. 120 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 1: And as I got older, I felt a little bit like, 121 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:49,680 Speaker 1: what am I doing? I'm a peer? But then I'm 122 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:52,360 Speaker 1: not a peer? How did I cast myself into this role? 123 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:54,920 Speaker 1: And I wanted to talk about that with Olga, because 124 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:57,560 Speaker 1: I don't think that that's isolated. We have a generation 125 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:00,240 Speaker 1: that fought to get us seats at the table, and 126 00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:04,599 Speaker 1: then instead of asking for more, you temporarily are like, 127 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:06,560 Speaker 1: I'm so happy I'm here. I'm just so happy. I 128 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 1: was asked, I think we lost the thread. And one 129 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:12,040 Speaker 1: of the goals that I was trying to do with 130 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: the book was to reconnect the thread of the recent 131 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:17,760 Speaker 1: past and bring it into the present moment. 132 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:19,680 Speaker 2: Well, when was it when you were just like, hold 133 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 2: on a second, I actually want to use writing a 134 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 2: novel kind of click for you because you don't graduate 135 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 2: from Brown and say and now I'm going to try 136 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:33,400 Speaker 2: to get a novel going or work in the publishing 137 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:36,520 Speaker 2: industry or any of that. So why was it that 138 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:40,120 Speaker 2: writing was the thing that actually connected with you? 139 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:44,040 Speaker 1: I had always been a writer. I remember being in 140 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:47,120 Speaker 1: high school and I would write little short stories on 141 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:50,600 Speaker 1: my own. And the funny part is in later life, 142 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 1: like in middle age, I realized that writing is the 143 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:57,280 Speaker 1: only athletic activity I've ever done. Is really running, And 144 00:07:57,320 --> 00:07:59,120 Speaker 1: I think I like them because they both have such 145 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:00,760 Speaker 1: low barriers to end, do you know what I mean? 146 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:02,400 Speaker 1: Like it's like you need a device on which to 147 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:04,840 Speaker 1: type and a brain and then you can make up anything. 148 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:06,720 Speaker 1: And even when I had the wedding plan business, I 149 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:08,640 Speaker 1: wrote a blog that was kind of popular, and I 150 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: would write advice columns and etiquette columns. I've always liked 151 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:16,200 Speaker 1: expressing myself in the written word, and then the seed 152 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:20,320 Speaker 1: seed of the novel and thinking about a novel was 153 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:23,200 Speaker 1: I remember being at the Javit Center the night of 154 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:27,440 Speaker 1: the twenty sixteen elections. I had volunteered with Muhitisbert Hillary, 155 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 1: and I'm talking to all these other very liberal democratic 156 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: volunteers and the subject of Portho Nico comes up and 157 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:37,560 Speaker 1: nobody knew anything. I was so frustrated by it, and 158 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:39,720 Speaker 1: you felt like when if you were on Twitter, on 159 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:41,760 Speaker 1: social media or talking to people, only people that already 160 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:45,320 Speaker 1: understood seemed to care. Eventually, after I turned forty, I 161 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:47,520 Speaker 1: went to like a summer conference for writing, and I 162 00:08:47,559 --> 00:08:50,120 Speaker 1: actually went for nonfiction. I thought I would write a 163 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:53,559 Speaker 1: memoir about having activist parents, and then I decided that 164 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:55,760 Speaker 1: I was like, no, I'm going to start fiction writing. 165 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:58,120 Speaker 3: And I was like, you know what. I think that 166 00:08:58,240 --> 00:08:59,480 Speaker 3: my background of. 167 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:02,640 Speaker 1: Wedding plan would be the perfect trojan horse to make 168 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:06,640 Speaker 1: people care and understand more about Puerto Rico. 169 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:17,920 Speaker 2: Coming up on Latino USA. So ChIL Gonzalez decides to 170 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:21,640 Speaker 2: leave behind her life as a wedding plan in order 171 00:09:21,679 --> 00:09:26,199 Speaker 2: to write her first novel, Volga Dies Dreaming. Stay with us, 172 00:09:26,400 --> 00:10:30,920 Speaker 2: not Hey, We're back. In the first part of our conversation, 173 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:35,320 Speaker 2: so Chill Gonzalez talked about the influence her militant parents 174 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:37,960 Speaker 2: had on her from a very young age, and her 175 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:41,520 Speaker 2: frustration as an adult when she noticed a lack of 176 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:45,400 Speaker 2: interest in Puerto Rico among the people she was hanging 177 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:49,040 Speaker 2: out with. This background was the seed for the creation 178 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:58,520 Speaker 2: of Olga the main character in her novel olgat Dies Dreaming. So, 179 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:02,360 Speaker 2: congratulations on being ana writer who is writing about a 180 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:06,199 Speaker 2: woman who is not young and having pretty great sex. Yes, 181 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:11,000 Speaker 2: let's talk about Olgai. When were you like, Okay, here 182 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:13,840 Speaker 2: she is and she is going to be the title 183 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:17,959 Speaker 2: of my book, This fabulous Puerto Rican she's in her forties, right, 184 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:20,679 Speaker 2: She's in her forties. That was so important to me. 185 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:23,120 Speaker 1: What I knew I wanted to write about was a 186 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:28,600 Speaker 1: woman who walks in many worlds, who is very well educated, 187 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:32,480 Speaker 1: and how you have to know about your world that 188 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:35,079 Speaker 1: you came from, but also the worlds that you're transversing 189 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:37,840 Speaker 1: and the going back and forth and what that toll is. 190 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:40,960 Speaker 1: I started out writing little stories about her, and she 191 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:43,719 Speaker 1: was like, you know, in an exercise class, but. 192 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:45,800 Speaker 2: The you know, the only one with big boobs. And 193 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 2: then I was like, this is a real character. 194 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:53,040 Speaker 1: One day was on my way into work and I 195 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:56,400 Speaker 1: was reading this book called Battle for Paradise about disaster 196 00:11:56,559 --> 00:12:00,920 Speaker 1: capitalists in Port le Nico after Hurricane Maria. Just all 197 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:04,320 Speaker 1: of a sudden, I was like, Ugh, here's the loose plot. 198 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:07,880 Speaker 1: She's a wedding planner, she steals from her clients, and 199 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:10,120 Speaker 1: she's sending money to her mother who's funding a revolution. 200 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:14,800 Speaker 1: That was the first version of the idea. 201 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:16,080 Speaker 2: The great part. 202 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:19,560 Speaker 1: About doing stuff after your forties is I don't know 203 00:12:19,559 --> 00:12:21,280 Speaker 1: how to put it. It felt very low risk. I was like, 204 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:22,880 Speaker 1: I'm just gonna write what I want to write, you 205 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:23,320 Speaker 1: know what I. 206 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:26,560 Speaker 2: Mean, Like, you just don't really give a. 207 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:31,199 Speaker 3: You don't, You just don't. So I left New York. 208 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:33,200 Speaker 1: I gave up my rent stabilized apartment to go to 209 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:35,360 Speaker 1: graduate school and get my MFA. At forty two years 210 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:38,480 Speaker 1: old at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. 211 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:42,079 Speaker 2: You're not only dealing with moving from Brooklyn to Iowa, 212 00:12:42,679 --> 00:12:47,560 Speaker 2: but also being an older Latina. And I'm just wondering. 213 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,400 Speaker 2: You talk about it as being a kind of culture shock, 214 00:12:50,679 --> 00:12:55,440 Speaker 2: age shock, geographic shock, and that's for a tough woman 215 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:57,040 Speaker 2: who's kind of seen a lot. So what was that 216 00:12:57,200 --> 00:12:59,120 Speaker 2: like for you? In the beginning? 217 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:04,080 Speaker 1: It was really terrifyingly lonely, and I think I hadn't 218 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:08,480 Speaker 1: realized how much I relied on like my community. I mean, 219 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:10,960 Speaker 1: like the woman that does my dry cleaning, like the 220 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:13,679 Speaker 1: bartender at my local. All of these people are like 221 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:17,600 Speaker 1: part of my little uh mister Rogers neighborhood, miss Gonzales' neighborhood, 222 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:18,000 Speaker 1: if you will. 223 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:21,119 Speaker 2: And it's like, well, where do we grocery shop? Walmart? 224 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:25,520 Speaker 1: Everything that had been tiny became like box sort of. 225 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:29,080 Speaker 1: And then also the lack of just seeing people that 226 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:31,120 Speaker 1: was the biggest shock. And then I think it was 227 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:34,480 Speaker 1: me figuring out how to be with my classmates, because 228 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:37,439 Speaker 1: they were all wonderful. But I was like, it's a 229 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:39,600 Speaker 1: two year program at forty two. 230 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:42,040 Speaker 2: Two years feels like a blink of an eye, you know. 231 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 1: Then you're there with some insanely talented people, but they're 232 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:47,240 Speaker 1: like twenty four and it's like about making friends, and 233 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:49,040 Speaker 1: I was like, well, what can you do? I was like, 234 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:52,880 Speaker 1: you can make instant pot oroskauelas, and you can afford 235 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:56,320 Speaker 1: some wine and invite your classmates over just let them talk. 236 00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:59,679 Speaker 1: That was like hosting became my way of finding my 237 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:01,360 Speaker 1: little place in the world. So I was like the 238 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:03,960 Speaker 1: dah of the program to be totally hot special. 239 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:06,560 Speaker 2: So you became a thea in Iowa. Gotcha, Yeah, I 240 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:11,840 Speaker 2: became the Thia in Iowa. So Puerto Rico is a 241 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:16,920 Speaker 2: central part of the story of Olga Dyed dreaming. Puerto 242 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:20,080 Speaker 2: Rican activism on the island in New York is long 243 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:23,280 Speaker 2: legacy of that kind of activism. And you've talked a 244 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:26,600 Speaker 2: lot about wanting to get certain points across and using 245 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:28,920 Speaker 2: the fiction writing as in your words, kind of a 246 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:33,560 Speaker 2: trojan horse because you're bringing in older Latinas who are entrepreneurial, 247 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:36,360 Speaker 2: who are code switching if we're going to use that 248 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:38,960 Speaker 2: term that we didn't create, but you know, basically moving 249 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:43,680 Speaker 2: in multiple worlds. So in your words, what do you 250 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:46,120 Speaker 2: think that the novel is really about. 251 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:47,800 Speaker 3: I think it's about resilience. 252 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:50,520 Speaker 1: I think that that is the story of Olga and 253 00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:53,560 Speaker 1: her brother, but I also think it's the story of 254 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:56,680 Speaker 1: Puerto Rico. I think it's the story of working class 255 00:14:56,680 --> 00:15:00,320 Speaker 1: New Yorkers. Is like, there is resilience and inability to 256 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 1: allow your joy to be stolen. I wanted to pay 257 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:07,080 Speaker 1: tribute and homage to like all of the Latinas that 258 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:10,200 Speaker 1: I know when you leave home, the courage that that takes, 259 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:12,920 Speaker 1: but also the traumas that you're going to engage in 260 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:15,600 Speaker 1: in order to like pursue this thing and also maybe 261 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:18,240 Speaker 1: question it. But how that makes you resilient and you're 262 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:19,720 Speaker 1: going to get knocked down, You're going to have to 263 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:20,320 Speaker 1: get back up. 264 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:24,360 Speaker 2: You'll always get back up. You decide to kind of 265 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,360 Speaker 2: also delve into a topic that you know really well, 266 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:30,520 Speaker 2: which is Brooklyn. You're like, yeah, one hundred and fifty 267 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:31,320 Speaker 2: percent in Brooklyn. 268 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:33,720 Speaker 1: Oh my god, I'm the most confident I am is 269 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:35,720 Speaker 1: that I'm Brooklyn. 270 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:41,720 Speaker 2: But the reality of Brooklyn right now is gentrification. So 271 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:50,200 Speaker 2: this Brooklyn of shiny glass, hipster coffee shops everywhere, it 272 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:53,160 Speaker 2: is something that you deal with. You deal very clearly 273 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:56,520 Speaker 2: with the issue of gentrification. And so on the one hand, 274 00:15:56,520 --> 00:15:59,200 Speaker 2: you're like one hundred percent saying I'm Brooklyn, I'm not moving, 275 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:03,960 Speaker 2: this is my space. You're also documenting in novel form 276 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:08,120 Speaker 2: that this is it is in fact, incredibly challenging to 277 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:10,360 Speaker 2: be Latino or Latina and be able to stay in Brooklyn. 278 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:13,560 Speaker 1: One of the themes of the book is this kind 279 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:16,800 Speaker 1: of idea of dual diasporas. There were so many new 280 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:19,800 Speaker 1: agains growing up that never got to go to the island, 281 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:22,800 Speaker 1: your family didn't have money to go. You feel so like, Okay, 282 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 1: this is my culture, this is where I'm from, And 283 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:28,320 Speaker 1: what is happening is that they're very parallel colonialism and 284 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 1: the powers of urban development. It's a lot of the 285 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:33,720 Speaker 1: same things happening on the island now that are happening 286 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:37,320 Speaker 1: in Brooklyn now, and it's causing a next diaspora where 287 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 1: people can't afford to stay. In that sense, that's how 288 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:43,360 Speaker 1: I sort of saw those two things as parallel and related, 289 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:47,200 Speaker 1: but separately. I wrote this book quite fast. It's long, 290 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:49,520 Speaker 1: and I wrote it in a year and half. That year, 291 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:52,400 Speaker 1: I had the privilege of being a student, but I 292 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:55,360 Speaker 1: felt like I was like writing like my life depended 293 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 1: on it because I felt like I was I'm racing 294 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:00,520 Speaker 1: against time because every month it feels like a different Brooklyn. 295 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:02,240 Speaker 2: It's really heartbreaking to me. 296 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:05,960 Speaker 1: And then at the same time, I have changed class 297 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:08,960 Speaker 1: circumstances in my adult life from when I was a kid, 298 00:17:09,080 --> 00:17:13,240 Speaker 1: and I have the privilege to go to these a fancy, 299 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:16,320 Speaker 1: bougie French restaurant that opened up down the street, and 300 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:18,960 Speaker 1: so I live in constant conflict. To be completely honest. 301 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:21,160 Speaker 1: I just started writing a column for The Atlantic. It's 302 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:24,320 Speaker 1: called Brooklyn Everywhere, and it's literally ninety percent of the 303 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:26,320 Speaker 1: time just me being like, oh my god, I hate myself. 304 00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:32,960 Speaker 2: Like I think that many Latinas and Latinos will be 305 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:36,000 Speaker 2: able to identify with that sense, because things are changing 306 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:39,560 Speaker 2: for us too, and we have to understand we are 307 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:42,120 Speaker 2: moving into privilege too, and so what does that mean? 308 00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:45,360 Speaker 2: Because also so many of us are so deeply denied 309 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:49,000 Speaker 2: the most basic form of humanity and how can we 310 00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:52,480 Speaker 2: do both at the same time, Which is why it's 311 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:57,959 Speaker 2: interesting that your novel where there's so much activity and entrepreneurialship, 312 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:02,080 Speaker 2: even Olga, you know, being kind of her own business self, 313 00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:07,960 Speaker 2: but also the backdrop is Hurricane Maria. When did you realize, 314 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:10,919 Speaker 2: like loow, Hurricane Maria. It's definitely going to be a 315 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:11,240 Speaker 2: part of. 316 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:14,879 Speaker 1: This from the very beginning, and I remember being in 317 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:17,440 Speaker 1: my apartment in Iowa. I was watching the footage from 318 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:20,640 Speaker 1: before people lost cell service of the hurricane, and then 319 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:26,439 Speaker 1: watching footage months after no lights, like having no usable 320 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:29,200 Speaker 1: drinking water, and the idea that this is a hot 321 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:31,800 Speaker 1: news story and then it goes away. I just felt 322 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:34,320 Speaker 1: like I need people to realize that this is real life, 323 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:38,440 Speaker 1: but also the idea that the story then is actually 324 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:40,159 Speaker 1: of agency and not victimhood. 325 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:42,520 Speaker 3: And I think that that was very important to me. 326 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:47,600 Speaker 2: So when you talk about kind of the issues that 327 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:54,880 Speaker 2: you bring up in your novel, gentrification, colonialism, agism, agency, yes, feminism, 328 00:18:55,240 --> 00:19:00,520 Speaker 2: Latina independence, Puerto Rican independence, people might be like, wait, 329 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:06,280 Speaker 2: and then there's going to be a television show, So 330 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:08,000 Speaker 2: how did that happen? 331 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:10,960 Speaker 1: I love films, but I thought this would need to 332 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:12,920 Speaker 1: be a show because it's a lot happening in the book. 333 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:15,399 Speaker 1: So I'd always thought that this was a possibility, and 334 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:18,040 Speaker 1: I wanted this to get as large of an audience 335 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:21,120 Speaker 1: as possible, if for no other reason, to have worthy 336 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:22,760 Speaker 1: go be part of a national conversation. 337 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:23,080 Speaker 3: Right. 338 00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:25,880 Speaker 1: But when it came time to sell the rights, I 339 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:28,760 Speaker 1: was told, you know, it'll be much faster and better 340 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:31,199 Speaker 1: if we do it without you attached, because you've never 341 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:34,280 Speaker 1: screenwritten before. People don't like to work with novelists. And 342 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:38,639 Speaker 1: I said, well, it's ten am. If by six you 343 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:40,719 Speaker 1: can come back to me with another middle aged New 344 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:47,160 Speaker 1: Reagan who will write this, then I'll bow out whatever. Well, 345 00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:49,000 Speaker 1: it was as long as I feel like they're cool, 346 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:51,720 Speaker 1: and two hours later they were like, let's just go 347 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:54,199 Speaker 1: out with you attached, and so like, I don't know 348 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 1: that my thirty year old self would have had the 349 00:19:56,720 --> 00:19:57,680 Speaker 1: guts to do that. 350 00:19:57,760 --> 00:19:59,120 Speaker 2: But it was less. 351 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:02,479 Speaker 1: About wanting to forge a new career in television than 352 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:04,800 Speaker 1: it was like about wanting to get this as right 353 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:07,159 Speaker 1: as possible and feeling that it was possible and that 354 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:08,960 Speaker 1: I could do it. And so I do think my 355 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,199 Speaker 1: wedding planning brain has helped a lot, because you like, 356 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:14,639 Speaker 1: really like it's like you're used to sort of talking 357 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:17,959 Speaker 1: to people. It's been a lot of problem solving and 358 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:20,879 Speaker 1: I will say I cannot get over the people that 359 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:24,480 Speaker 1: this project's attracted. And I think because ultimately it's a 360 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:27,359 Speaker 1: story about family and these characters and this brother and sister, 361 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:30,880 Speaker 1: and because they're so real, it's actually so entertaining. 362 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:31,200 Speaker 3: Right. 363 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:36,240 Speaker 2: So, so Chi you have these multiple perspectives, not only 364 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:40,240 Speaker 2: because you're Latina, but also because you're working class. There's 365 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:42,359 Speaker 2: not many who can say, well, you know, I have 366 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:45,800 Speaker 2: parents who are socialists activists in the United States. But 367 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:48,840 Speaker 2: at the same time, you know, you're in the Ivy 368 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:52,320 Speaker 2: League and dealing with major publishing houses and now you 369 00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:55,760 Speaker 2: know a TV show. Yes, from a structural place, though 370 00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:00,320 Speaker 2: we're still having to pretty much fight. Yep, there's a 371 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:05,200 Speaker 2: larger critique. How do you see that larger structural critique 372 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:07,760 Speaker 2: which is really one that you've you were raised in 373 00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:12,200 Speaker 2: because your parents were political activists challenging capitalism. 374 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:15,280 Speaker 1: What I think a lot about is a barrier to 375 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:19,720 Speaker 1: entry and also breaking molds. So I had to raise 376 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:22,560 Speaker 1: myself for like twenty years in like kind of the 377 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:25,960 Speaker 1: bourgeois norms of society to figure out a way to 378 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:29,080 Speaker 1: kind of do something more creative and find the space 379 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:32,400 Speaker 1: to do that. But when I think about barriers, I 380 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:35,040 Speaker 1: think how I was very interested in the arts, and 381 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:37,199 Speaker 1: I was interested in all these things, and the idea 382 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:39,440 Speaker 1: is how do I find a job that will pay 383 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:41,920 Speaker 1: back these loans? And I think the barrier is kind 384 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:44,120 Speaker 1: of put up in terms of what can I pursue 385 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:47,280 Speaker 1: and where what are things that I'm interested in? So obviously, 386 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:49,280 Speaker 1: like I think structurally a student debt is a giant 387 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:51,760 Speaker 1: part of it. But I also think on the other side, 388 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:56,320 Speaker 1: we need to be encouraging other Latinos and Latinos to 389 00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:59,520 Speaker 1: take more avant garde paths towards what they're doing. The 390 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 1: upside of not having stayed married and not having had 391 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:05,399 Speaker 1: kids when I was married was that I could just 392 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:07,359 Speaker 1: kind of pack up and go to Iowa at forty two. 393 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:10,120 Speaker 3: But there are other people. Maybe their kids. 394 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:12,760 Speaker 1: Are grown now and there's a thing burning in their heart, 395 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:16,600 Speaker 1: and how do we tell that person? Maybe you didn't 396 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:21,480 Speaker 1: do this before, but come on. In everything that I 397 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:23,679 Speaker 1: know about life I learned from wedding planning. I know 398 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:27,240 Speaker 1: how to manage difficult people. I know how to read 399 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:29,400 Speaker 1: a human being. I know how to do a budget. 400 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:33,120 Speaker 1: I know how to negotiate a contract. You have transferable skills. 401 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:37,080 Speaker 1: And it's an intimidation tactic when people make it seem 402 00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:40,159 Speaker 1: as though, oh, you've never written a screenplay before. And 403 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:42,119 Speaker 1: it's like, at some point, if you know how to 404 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:44,119 Speaker 1: write dialogue, you can write dialogue. If you think you 405 00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:46,760 Speaker 1: can do it, just try it. The first act isn't 406 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:49,200 Speaker 1: your last act. And I think particularly there's so many 407 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:52,920 Speaker 1: wonderful LATINX experiences that are just waiting to bubble up. 408 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:56,000 Speaker 2: Thank you so much for joining me on lat You 409 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:58,120 Speaker 2: know what, USA, This was so much fun. Thank you. 410 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:00,600 Speaker 2: Oh my god, it's too much fun. Too much, man, 411 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:19,520 Speaker 2: This episode was produced by Patricia Subran. It was edited 412 00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:22,600 Speaker 2: by Nitra Bonshahi and mixed by gabriel A Bayaz and 413 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:27,480 Speaker 2: JJ Carubin. The Latino USA team includes Andrea Lopez Cruzado, 414 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:33,040 Speaker 2: Marta Martinez, Daisy Contreras, Mike Sergeant, Julieta Martinelli, Victori Estrada, 415 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:37,480 Speaker 2: Rinaldo Reanos, Junior Alejandra Selasad and Julia Rocha, with help 416 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:40,920 Speaker 2: from Raoul Perez. Our director of engineering is Stephanie LAbau. 417 00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:44,560 Speaker 2: Our senior engineer is Julie Russo. Our digital editor is 418 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:48,800 Speaker 2: Luis Luna. Our fellows are Elisa Ena, Monica Morales and 419 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:52,720 Speaker 2: Andrew Vignardis. Our theme music was composed by San Rovinos. 420 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:55,480 Speaker 2: I'm your host and executive producer Marie jo Posa. Join 421 00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:58,000 Speaker 2: us again on our next episode and in the meantime, 422 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:00,280 Speaker 2: look for us on all of your social media and 423 00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:07,200 Speaker 2: remembers see you on our next episode. Bye. 424 00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:12,800 Speaker 4: Latino USA is made possible in part by New York 425 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:17,479 Speaker 4: Women's Foundation. The New York Women's Foundation funding women leaders 426 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:21,600 Speaker 4: that build solutions in their communities and celebrating thirty years 427 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:26,800 Speaker 4: of radical generosity, The Ford Foundation working with visionaries on 428 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:31,199 Speaker 4: the front lines of Social Change Worldwide and the John D. 429 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:33,240 Speaker 4: And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. 430 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:42,120 Speaker 2: How why, well that was Benito and just buying her